The former supplier of Asda's tomato puree has appealed against his conviction
for mislabelling Chinese tomato puree as Italian.

Antonino Russo's company bought tomato concentrate from China, added water and salt to it and repackaged it as being 'produced in Italy for Asda'Photo: Alamy

By Harry Alsop

3:57PM GMT 28 Feb 2013

Antonino Russo's company AP Industrie Alimentari (Aria) bought triple strength tomato concentrate from China, added water and salt to it and repackaged it as being "produced in Italy for Asda",the Guardian reported.

Under EU law it is legal to describe tomato puree that is entirely Chinese in origin as being produced in Italy, as long as it is processed into a different form.

The case has been developing in the Italian courts, with Russo provisionally sentenced to four months imprisonment and a fine last March.

Since then, Russo has been able to have 200,000 cans of seized tomato paste returned to him, and he is now looking to have his conviction overturned.

Roberto Lenza, the prosecutor who led the investigation, said: "Russo hasn't denied having used Chinese tomatoes. Russo defended himself by saying that, because he did process the Chinese concentrate in his plant, he could label it and sell it as Italian." The only processing that occurred was the addition of some water and salt to the concentrate, before it was re-homed in 142g cans bearing Asda's name.

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The court ruled that such "minimal" processing was undeserving of the labelling.

Mr Lenza said that there needed to be protection for the "made in Italy" label, "especially considering the foreign markets for this product, and the respect it usually receives precisely because of its Italian origin".

Russo confirmed that his company sent "90 per cent of [the] Chinese product abroad, we don't sell it in Italy".

Asda said it had been unaware of the puree's Chinese origin in 2010, when the scandal first emerged.

Russo has since sold a majority stake in Aria to UK food group Princes, and the new company is known as Princes Industrie Alimentari SrL (PIA).

PIA has said it will only use Italian tomatoes, processed at its new site in Foggia, for its Napolina range.

The company will also produce tomato concentrate for Asda's own brand range at the same plant, again using only Italian tomatoes.

China produces around 4 million tonnes of tomatoes annually, with many exported to Europe.

Valerio Guareschi, sales manager of a major tomato processor in northern Italy, said Italy had been "the spark for China's production".

He said: "After we provided the Chinese with know-how and industrial facilities, the southern Italian canners began buying huge quantities of Chinese triple concentrate."